Lord Alan Sugar

About

Lord Sugar is Britain’s most well-known entrepreneur and his rags-to-riches story is like a fairy tale. An electronics-turned-property entrepreneur, and famous television star, he certainly made it big through hard graft.

Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar, Kt (born 24 March 1947) started from humble origins in the East End of London, and now has an estimated fortune of £770m and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011. In 2007, he sold his remaining interest in the consumer electronics company Amstrad, his largest and best known business venture.

He starred in the BBC TV series The Apprentice, which has run to seven series. It has been broadcast annually since 2005. Lord Sugar is also notable for his time as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur from 1991 to 2001.

In 2009, he appeared in television advertisements for investment bank NS&I and The Learning and Skills Council talking about apprenticeships.

In May 2011, he presented Lord Sugar Tackles Football, a documentary looking into the financial woes of English football.

Alan Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to business. He holds two honorary Doctorates of Science degrees, awarded in 1988 by City University and in 2005 by Brunel University. He is a philanthropist for charities such as Jewish Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

On 5 June 2009 it was reported that he had been offered a peerage by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of a new enterprise role in his government, and he was subsequently created Baron Sugar, of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.